Touchscreen keyboard providing selection of word predictions in partitions of the touchscreen keyboard

ABSTRACT

A method, including receiving an input of a character from a virtual keyboard displayed on a display; generating at least two sets of predicted input characters based on the input character; displaying at least two of the generated sets of predicted input characters at an input field, wherein each displayed set is displayed at a position in a defined arrangement; and selecting one of the displayed sets of predicted input characters in accordance with a gesture received at a partition of the virtual keyboard is disclosed. An electronic device and a non-transitory computer-readable medium to perform the method are also disclosed.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

The present disclosure relates to commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/373,356, filed Nov. 10, 2011, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to input methodologies for electronic devices, such as handheld electronic devices, and more particularly, to methods for receiving predictive text input and generation of a set of characters for electronic devices.

BACKGROUND

Increasingly electronic devices, such as computers, netbooks, cellular phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants, tablets, etc., have touchscreens that allow a user to input characters into an application, such as a word processor or email application. Character input on touchscreens can be a cumbersome task due to, for example, the small touchscreen area, particularly where a user needs to input a long message.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an example block diagram of an electronic device, consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for predicting a selected set of characters, consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C, and 3D show example front views of a touchscreen, consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show example front views of a touchscreen, consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 5 shows an example front view of a touchscreen, consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C show example front views of a touchscreen, consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 7 shows an example front view of a touchscreen, consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIGS. 8A and 8B show example front views of a touchscreen, consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 9 shows an example front view of a touchscreen, consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIGS. 10A and 10B show example front views of a touchscreen, consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIGS. 11A and 11B show example front views of a touchscreen, consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIGS. 12A and 12B show example front views of a touchscreen, consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIGS. 13A and 13B show example front views of a touchscreen, consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIGS. 14A, 14B, and 14C show example front views of a touchscreen, consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 15 shows an example front view of a touchscreen, consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 16 shows an example front view of a touchscreen, consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating an example method, consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating an example method, consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating an example method, consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 20 shows an example front view of a virtual keyboard for display on a touchscreen, consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIGS. 21 and 22 show example user interface screens having a virtual keyboard and an input field consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating an example method, consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIGS. 24-28 show additional example user interface screens having a virtual keyboard and an input field consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

The present disclosure relates to an electronic device, including wired communication devices (for example, a laptop computer having a touchscreen) and mobile or handheld wireless communication devices such as cellular phones, smartphones, wireless organizers, personal digital assistants, wirelessly enabled notebook computers, tablets, and similar devices. The electronic device can also be an electronic device without wireless communication capabilities, such as a handheld electronic game device, digital photograph album, digital camera, or other device.

Basic predictive text input solutions have been introduced for assisting with input on an electronic device. These solutions include predicting which word a user is entering and offering a suggestion for completing the word. But these solutions can have limitations, often requiring the user to input most or all of the characters in a word before the solution suggests the word the user is trying to input. Even then, a user often has to divert focus between the keyboard, a prediction bar, and the text input field.

Constantly refocusing of one's eyes to different portions of a device while inputting information in an electronic device, particularly when composing large texts, can strain the eyes and be cumbersome, distracting, and otherwise inefficient. Moreover, processing cycles are lost and display power wasted as the processor is idling while the user is refocusing his/her attention.

The efficiency of predictive text input solutions, from the perspective of both device resources and user experience, sometimes depends on the particular user and the nature of the interaction of the particular user with the touchscreen. Virtual keyboard usage patterns can be broadly categorized as being of two types: “rapid” and “precise”. Rapid typists are typically fast two-thumb typists which rely on auto-correction. This usage pattern corresponds most closely with experienced, frequent touchscreen users. Precise typists are typically careful typists who are inclined to use a single finger point to tap keys in the virtual keyboard, and often choose predictions as an input accelerator rather than auto-correction. This usage pattern corresponds most closely with novice/new touchscreen users as well as potentially one-handed (thumb) use situations.

Some rapid typists prefer to keep their eyes on the text field when they are typing and infrequently divert their attention to the keyboard. In some instances, this may allow the typist to maintain his/her attention on the context and formatting of text being input into the text field. In some instances, this may also reduce the eye strain and inefficiencies associated with changing focus between the keyboard and text field. Accordingly, example embodiments described herein permit the user of an electronic device to input characters while reducing the need to divert attention from the text field and subsequently refocusing.

Example embodiments described herein also seek to accommodate different user types, such as rapid typists and precise typists, and the different efficiency challenges presented by the different user types.

Use of the indefinite article “a” or “an” in the specification and the claims is meant to include one or more than one of the feature that it introduces, unless otherwise indicated. Thus, the term “a set of characters” as used in “generating a set of characters” can include the generation of one or more than one set of characters. Similarly, use of the definite article “the”, or “said,” particularly after a feature has been introduced with the indefinite article, is meant to include one or more than one of the feature to which it refers (unless otherwise indicated). Therefore, the term “the generated set of characters” as used in “displaying the generated set of characters” includes displaying one or more generated set of characters. References to orientation contained herein, such as horizontal and vertical, are relative to the screen orientation of a graphical user interface rather than any physical orientation.

In one embodiment, a method is provided that comprises receiving an input of a character from a virtual keyboard displayed on a display; generating at least two sets of predicted input characters based on the input character; displaying at least two of the generated sets of predicted input characters at an input field, wherein each displayed set is displayed at a position in a defined arrangement; and selecting one of the displayed sets of predicted input characters in accordance with a gesture received at a partition of the virtual keyboard.

In another embodiment, an electronic device is provided that comprises a processor and a display coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to receive an input of a character from a virtual keyboard displayed on the display; generate at least two sets of predicted input characters based on the input character; display at least two of the generated sets of predicted input characters at an input field, wherein each displayed set is displayed at a position in a defined arrangement; and input one of the displayed sets of predicted input characters in accordance with a gesture received at a partition of the virtual keyboard.

In another embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided. The medium comprises computer-executable instructions for receiving an input of a character from a virtual keyboard displayed on a display; generating at least two sets of predicted input characters based on the input character; displaying at least two of the generated sets of predicted input characters at an input field, wherein each displayed set is displayed at a position in a defined arrangement; and inputting one of the displayed sets of predicted input characters in accordance with a gesture received at a partition of the virtual keyboard.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic device 100, consistent with example embodiments disclosed herein. Electronic device 100 includes multiple components, such as a main processor 102 that controls the overall operation of electronic device 100. Communication functions, including data and voice communications, are performed through a communication subsystem 104. Data received by electronic device 100 is decompressed and decrypted by a decoder 106. The communication subsystem 104 receives messages from and sends messages to a network 150. Network 150 can be any type of network, including, but not limited to, a wired network, a data wireless network, voice wireless network, and dual-mode wireless networks that support both voice and data communications over the same physical base stations. Electronic device 100 can be a battery-powered device and include a battery interface 142 for receiving one or more batteries 144.

Main processor 102 is coupled to and can interact with additional subsystems such as a Random Access Memory (RAM) 108; a memory 110, such as a hard drive, CD, DVD, flash memory, or a similar storage device; one or more actuators 120; one or more force sensors 122; an auxiliary input/output (I/O) subsystem 124; a data port 126; a speaker 128; a microphone 130; short-range communications 132; other device subsystems 134; and a touchscreen 118.

Touchscreen 118 includes a display 112 with a touch-active overlay 114 connected to a controller 116. User-interaction with a graphical user interface (GUI), such as a virtual keyboard rendered and displayed on the display 112 as a GUI for input of characters, or a web-browser, is performed through touch-active overlay 114. Main processor 102 interacts with touch-active overlay 114 via controller 116. Characters, such as text, symbols, images, and other items are displayed on display 112 of touchscreen 118 via main processor 102. Characters are inputted when the user touches the touchscreen at a location associated with said character.

Touchscreen 118 is connected to and controlled by main processor 102. Accordingly, detection of a touch event and/or determining the location of the touch event can be performed by main processor 102 of electronic device 100. A touch event includes in some embodiments, a tap by a finger, a swipe by a finger, a swipe by a stylus, a long press by finger or stylus, or a press by a finger for a predetermined period of time, and the like.

While specific embodiments of a touchscreen have been described, any suitable type of touchscreen for an electronic device can be used, including, but not limited to, a capacitive touchscreen, a resistive touchscreen, a surface acoustic wave (SAW) touchscreen, an embedded photo cell touchscreen, an infrared (IR) touchscreen, a strain gauge-based touchscreen, an optical imaging touchscreen, a dispersive signal technology touchscreen, an acoustic pulse recognition touchscreen or a frustrated total internal reflection touchscreen. The type of touchscreen technology used in any given embodiment will depend on the electronic device and its particular application and demands.

Main processor 102 can also interact with a positioning system 136 for determining the location of electronic device 100. The location can be determined in any number of ways, such as by a computer, by a Global Positioning System (GPS), either included or not included in electric device 100, through a Wi-Fi network, or by having a location entered manually. The location can also be determined based on calendar entries.

In some embodiments, to identify a subscriber for network access, electronic device 100 uses a Subscriber Identity Module or a Removable User Identity Module (SIM/RUIM) card 138 inserted into a SIM/RUIM interface 140 for communication with a network, such as network 150. Alternatively, user identification information can be programmed into memory 110.

Electronic device 100 also includes an operating system 146 and programs 148 that are executed by main processor 102 and are typically stored in memory 110. Additional applications may be loaded onto electronic device 100 through network 150, auxiliary I/O subsystem 124, data port 126, short-range communications subsystem 132, or any other suitable subsystem.

A received signal such as a text message, an e-mail message, or web page download is processed by communication subsystem 104 and this processed information is then provided to main processor 102. Main processor 102 processes the received signal for output to display 112, to auxiliary I/O subsystem 124, or a combination of both. A user can compose data items, for example e-mail messages, which can be transmitted over network 150 through communication subsystem 104. For voice communications, the overall operation of electronic device 100 is similar. Speaker 128 outputs audible information converted from electrical signals, and microphone 130 converts audible information into electrical signals for processing.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example method 200 for predicting a set of characters, consistent with example embodiments disclosed herein. As used herein, a predictor (such as a predictive algorithm, program or firmware) includes a set of instructions that when executed by a processor (for example, main processor 102), can be used to disambiguate for example, received ambiguous text input and provide various options, such as a set of characters (for example, words or phrases, acronyms, names, slang, colloquialisms, abbreviations, or any combination thereof) that a user might be contemplating. A predictor can also receive otherwise unambiguous text input and predict a set of characters potentially contemplated by the user based on several factors, such as context, frequency of use, and others as appreciated by those skilled in the field. The predictor may predict a set of characters which completes a received text input (known as auto-completion), correct received text input (known as auto-correction), or a combination thereof (e.g., completing the text input while correcting previously entered text input).

For example, the predictor is a program 148 residing in memory 110 of electronic device 100. Accordingly, method 200 includes a predictor for generating a set of characters corresponding to a subsequent candidate input character based on inputted characters. It can be appreciated that while the example embodiments described herein are directed to a predictor program executed by a processor, the predictor can be executed by a virtual keyboard controller.

Method 200 begins at block 210, where the processor receives an input of one or more characters from a virtual keyboard displayed on a touchscreen. As used herein, however, a character can be any alphanumeric character, such as a letter, a number, a symbol, a punctuation mark, and the like. The inputted character can be displayed in an input field (for example, input field 330 further described below in FIGS. 3-9) that displays the character the user inputs using the virtual keyboard.

At block 220, the processor generates one or more sets of characters such as words or phrases, acronyms, names, slang, colloquialisms, abbreviations, or any combination thereof based on the input received in block 210. The set of characters includes, for example, a set of characters that are stored in a dictionary (for example, a word or an acronym) of a memory of the electronic device, a set of characters that were previously inputted by user (for example, a name or acronym), a set of characters based on a hierarchy or tree structure, a combination thereof, or any set of characters that are selected by a processor based on defined arrangement.

In some embodiments, the processor can use contextual data for generating a set of characters. Contextual data considers the context of characters in the input field. Contextual data can include information about, for example, sets of characters previously inputted by the user, grammatical attributes of the characters inputted in the input field (for example, whether a noun or a verb is needed as the next set of characters in a sentence), or any combination thereof. For example, if the set of characters “the” has already been inputted into display, the processor can use the contextual data to determine that a noun-instead of a verb-will be the next set of characters after “the”. Likewise, if the set of characters “Guy Lafleur played in the National Hockey” was inputted, based on the context, the processor can determine the subsequent set of characters is likely “League”. Using the contextual data, the processor can also determine whether an inputted character was incorrect. For example, the processor can determine that the inputted character was supposed to be a “w” instead of an “a” given the proximity of these characters on a QWERTY virtual keyboard.

Processor 102 can also include an affix as part of the set of characters, such as an adverb ending, an adjective ending, different verb tenses, and the like, or any other change to make a complete set of characters. Processor 102 can also use the received input to generate affixes, such as plural endings or plural forms. Any known predictive technique or software can be used to process the received input and the contextual data in generating set of characters at block 220.

In some example embodiments, the set of characters generated at block 220 can begin with the same character received as input at block 210. For example, if the characters “pl” have been received as input using a virtual keyboard, these characters will be received by the processor as the input. In these embodiments, the set of characters generated at block 220 would all begin with “pl”, such as “please” or “plot.” There is no limit on the length of a generated set of characters. Regarding affixes, if the user has input the characters “child”, for example, the affixes generated at block 220 could include “-ren”, to make the set of characters “children”, or “-ish”, to make the set of characters “childish”.

In some example embodiments, the set of characters generated at block 220 can simply include the same characters received as input at block 210. For example, if the received input is an “x,” the processor may generate “example” or “xylophone” as the set of characters. Such sets of characters can be generated using the contextual data.

In another example embodiment, if input has not been received or a delimiter (such as a <SPACE>) has been used, the generated set of characters can be placed on subsequent candidate input characters that correspond to the first letter of the generated set of characters.

Next, at block 230, the generated set of characters from block 220 can be ranked. The rankings reflect the likelihood that a candidate set of characters might have been intended by the user, or might be chosen by a user compared to another candidate set of characters.

In some embodiments, contextual data can be included in the ranking at block 230. In some embodiments, the electronic device can be configured to rank nouns or adjectives higher based on the previous inputted set of characters. If the inputted set of characters is suggestive of a noun or adjective, the processor, using the contextual data, can rank the nouns or adjectives corresponding to what the user is typing higher at block 230. In an additional embodiment, a set of characters including adjective affixes (such as “-ish” or “-ful”), phrases, plurals, or combinations thereof can also be ranked. Contextual data can increase the likelihood that the higher ranked generated set of characters is intended by a user. In some embodiments, contextual data can include information about which programs or applications are currently running or being used by a user. For example, if the user is running an email application, then a set of characters associated with that user's email system, such as a set of characters from the user's contact list, can be used to determine the ranking. N-grams, including unigrams, bigrams, trigrams, and the like, can be also used in the ranking of the sets of characters. Alternatively, the geolocation of the electronic device or user can be used in the ranking process. If, for example, the electronic device recognizes that a user is located at his/her office, then sets of characters generally associated with work can be ranked higher in the list. If, on the other hand, the device determines a user is at the beach, then sets of characters generally associated with the beach can be ranked higher in the list.

At block 240, the processor determines which of the set of characters to display based on the ranking. For example, higher ranked sets of characters are more likely to be determined that they should be displayed. A ranker (such as a ranking algorithm, program or firmware) includes a set of instructions that when executed by a processor (for example, main processor 102), can be executed to determine ranking in this regard. In some embodiments, the ranker is a program 146 residing in memory 110 of electronic device 100.

At block 250, the determined set of characters is displayed at a location on the keyboard corresponding to a subsequent candidate input character, predicted as the next character in a word that the user might input. For instance, if a user inputs “pl”, the word “please” would be displayed on the key for the letter “e”—the subsequent candidate input character for that word. Similarly, the word “plus” would also be displayed on the key for the letter “u”—another subsequent candidate input character. The subsequent candidate input character can be any alphanumeric character, such as a letter, number, symbol, punctuation mark, and the like.

In some embodiments, the generated set of characters is displayed at or near keys on the virtual keyboard associated with the subsequent candidate input characters. Its placement at or near a key can depend, for instance, on the size of the word or the number of nearby subsequent candidate input characters and the size of their associated set of characters.

The set of characters can be displayed in a manner that will attract the user's attention. In some embodiments, a displayed set of character's appearance can be enhanced or changed in a way that makes the set more readily visible to the user. For example, displayed sets of characters can be displayed with backlighting, highlighting, underlining, bolding, italicizing, using combinations thereof, or in any other way for making the displayed set of characters more visible.

When identifying the set of characters for display at block 240, the processor can limit the displayed set of characters to the top few or choose among the higher ranked sets of characters. For example, if two sets of characters are both ranked high, and these sets of characters would otherwise be displayed at the same key, the electronic device could be configured to display only the highest ranked generated set of characters. In other embodiments, both sets of characters could be displayed at or around the same key, or one set of characters is displayed at one key while the second set of characters is displayed at another key. In some example embodiments, the processor can take into account the display size to limit the number of generated sets of characters.

In some embodiments, the ranking could be used to choose between two or more sets of characters that, when displayed on adjacent subsequent candidate input characters, would overlap with each other (e.g., because of their respective lengths). In such a scenario, the electronic device could be configured to display the higher ranked set of characters on the keyboard. For example, if the set of characters “establishment” is ranked first in a list generated at block 240 after the letter “E” is inputted, “establishment” could be displayed at the “S” key. When displayed on a virtual keyboard, however, its length might occupy some space on the “A” key and the “D” key, potentially blocking a set of characters that would be displayed on or around those keys. At block 240, it could be determined that “establishment” would be displayed fully, and no other set of characters would be placed at the “A” or “D” keys ahead of the first ranked set of characters “establishment.” An alternative to displaying only the top ranked set of characters would be to use abbreviations or recognized shortened forms of the set of characters, effectively permitting a long set of characters to be displayed within or mostly within the boundaries of a single key simultaneously with other sets of characters on adjacent keys of a virtual keyboard.

FIGS. 3-9 illustrate a series of example front views of the touchscreen 118 having a virtual keyboard 320, consistent with example embodiments disclosed herein. Starting with FIG. 3A, touchscreen 118 includes a virtual keyboard 320 that is touch-active. The position of the virtual keyboard 320 is variable such that virtual keyboard 320 can be placed at any location on touchscreen 118. Touchscreen 118 could be configured to detect the location and possibly pressure of one or more objects at the same time. Touchscreen 118 includes two areas: (1) an input field 330 that displays characters after a user has inputted those characters and (2) the virtual keyboard 320 that receives the input from the user. As described throughout this disclosure, a virtual keyboard displays a set of characters at a location on the keyboard corresponding to a subsequent candidate input character that might be received as input from the user.

The examples and embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 3-9 can be implemented with any set of characters, such as words, phrases, acronyms, names, slang, colloquialisms, abbreviations, or any combination thereof.

As shown in FIG. 3A, touchscreen 118 displays a standard QWERTY virtual keyboard 320; however, any conventional key configuration can be displayed for use in the device, such as AZERTY, QWERTZ, or a layout based on the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) standard (ITU E.161) having “ABC” on key 2, “DEF” on key 3, and so on. Virtual keyboard 320 includes space key 350 as well as other keys that can provide different inputs, such as punctuation, letters, numbers, enter or return keys, and function keys. While virtual keyboard 320 is shown as having a square shape, it can have any other shape (such as an arch).

As shown in FIG. 3A, touchscreen 118 displays input field 330, which displays the characters the user inputs using virtual keyboard 320. Input field 330 includes a cursor 340, which can be an underscore (as shown) or any other shape, such as a vertical line. Cursor 340 represents the character space where a next inputted character, selected character, or selected set of characters will be inserted.

As shown in FIG. 3B, when a user inputs a character (in this example, “P”), this character is displayed in input field 330 and cursor 340 moves to the character space where the next inputted character or word will be inserted. After the character is inputted, a predictor (such as, a predictive algorithm or a circuit) can generate set of characters 360 (for this embodiment) that all begin with the character “P”, or characters if more than one character is input. The generated set of characters are displayed at a location on the keyboard corresponding to a subsequent candidate input character that might be received as input from the user. As mentioned, generated set of characters 360 can be displayed at or near the key corresponding to the subsequent candidate input characters (for example, under the respective A, E, H, and O keys of the virtual keyboard 320). Indeed, slightly shifting the display location of the generated set of characters can address overcrowding of subsequent candidate input characters, effectively permitting more set of characters to be displayed.

In the example shown in FIG. 3B, “P” is received as input and a predictor generates several set of characters 360, which are displayed at keys corresponding to each generated set of characters' subsequent candidate input character. As shown in FIG. 3B, “People” is placed at the “E” key because the next letter after “P” of “People” is “E”; “Paul” will be place at the “A” key because the next letter after “P” of “Paul” is “A”; “Phone” will be placed at the “H” key because the next letter after “P” of “Phone” is “H”; and so on. It should be noted that any of the letters in the set of characters can be upper case or lower case.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3C, “L” is next input received by touchscreen, and a predictor determines several generated set of characters 360, which are displayed at a key corresponding to subsequent candidate input characters (for example, under the respective A, E, and U keys of the virtual keyboard 320), for the current position of cursor 340, which is in the third character position, as shown in input field 330. In another embodiment, a generated set of characters 360 can be presented such as to include the subsequent candidate input character. For example, the set of characters “Please” can be displayed so that the characters “Pl” are displayed before the “E” character on the “E” key, and the characters “ase” can be placed after the “E” character on the “E” key. Further, in this or other embodiments, the displayed “E” can be presented in a manner that differs from the “Pl” and “ase”, thereby enabling the user to still recognize it as the “E” key while also making it readily visible so that the user can either input the generated set of characters “Please” or input the character “E”. The “E” can be capitalized or in lowercase. In other embodiments, an affix can be displayed at the key. Using the example of the set of characters “Please” above, the “ase” could be displayed at the “E” key so the set of characters fragment “-ease” or “-Ease” would appear.

If the user inputs a generated set of characters, that set of characters is placed in input field 330. This can be seen in FIG. 3D, where the user has inputted generated set of characters “Please,” resulting in its placement in the input field. A space is inserted after the set of characters if the user wants to input a new set of characters. A user could input a generated set of characters in various ways, including in a way that differs from a manner of inputting a character key. For example, to input a generated set of characters, a user could use a finger or stylus to swipe the generated set of characters. As used herein, swiping includes swiping the set of characters itself or swiping or touching near the set of characters. For the latter embodiment, the device can detect a swipe or touch near a set of characters, be it a generated set of characters or a predicted set of characters (to be described below), and through the use of a predictor, determine the set of characters the user intended to input. In another embodiment, the user could press a key for a predetermined period of time, such as a long press. That key can be, for example, the key corresponding to the subsequent candidate input character of the set of characters. So, if the set of characters “Please” is intended to be inputted instead of “E”, the electronic device 100 can be configured to require that the “E” key be pressed for a predetermined period of time to trigger the input of “Please”.

After a generated set of characters 360 has been determined, as shown in FIG. 3D, a predicted set of characters 380 can be displayed, shown here at space key 350. Predicted set of characters 380 can differ from generated set of characters 360 (as shown in FIGS. 3A-3C) and is the system's attempt to predict the next set of characters a user might be contemplating. A predictor is used to determine predicted set of characters 380. As with displayed generated set of characters 360, predicted set of characters 380 can be received as input in any number of ways, including receiving a swiping of the predicted set of characters with a finger or stylus or receiving a pressing of a key (such as the space key or another designated key) for a predetermined period of time (long press).

In FIG. 4A, electronic device 100 receives “C” as input from virtual keyboard 320. Again, a predictor determines generated set of characters 460 based in part on the received input. In FIG. 4B, electronic device 100 receives “0” as input from the virtual keyboard and outputs the “0” in input field 330. As shown in FIG. 4A, the set of characters “count” was displayed at the “0” key after the input of the “C” character was received. Since the “0” key was pressed in a manner to only input the “0” character, as shown in FIG. 4B, an “0” is displayed as the second character of the currently inputted set of characters, and the set of characters “count” is not inputted by the user. Alternatively, if a user wanted to input the generated set of characters “count,” the user can input the “0” key in FIG. 4A in a manner different from a manner of inputting the “0” key, such as by swiping the set of characters “count” or by a long press on the “0” key, as opposed to tapping. Returning to FIG. 4B, after the “0” is inputted, generated set of characters 460 are displayed at the keys corresponding to subsequent candidate input characters, as shown in FIG. 4B.

FIG. 5 shows input field 330 displaying the set of characters “contact” followed by a space. In that instance, the user inputted the generated set of characters “contact” 460 as was shown in FIG. 4B at the “N” key. Referring back to FIG. 5, a <SPACE> character is now automatically inserted after the generated word in the input field. Predicted word “me” 580 is now displayed on space key 350.

If the predicted word “me” 580 is received as input, the word “me” 580 is then displayed in input field 330 followed by a space as shown in FIG. 6A, which then shows predicted word 680 “immediately” displayed on space key 350. The predicted word is presented after a completed word and space have been displayed in input field 330.

FIG. 6B shows an example where touchscreen 118 has received the “T” character as input after the user has pressed the “T” key. In this scenario, touchscreen 118 displays a “t” in input field 330. Generated set of characters 660 (for example, “Tuesday,” “today,” and “Thursday”) are displayed at the keys of the subsequent candidate input characters. FIG. 6C shows an example where electronic device 100 has received the “o” character as input after the user presses the “O” key instead of inputting generated set of characters 660 “today” as was shown in FIG. 6B. Thus, “o” is now displayed in input field 330.

FIG. 7 shows an example where touchscreen 118 has received the <SPACE> character as input after the user selects the space key. In this scenario, touchscreen 118 inserts a <SPACE> character, and then displays predicted set of characters “talk” 780 at space key 350.

FIG. 8A shows an example where touchscreen 118 has received the “d” character as input after the user presses the “D” key. In this scenario, touchscreen 118 displays a “d” in the input field 330 and displays generated set of characters “discuss,” “divide,” and “dinner” 860 on keys corresponding to subsequent candidate input characters. In this example embodiment, while the character “I” was never received as input, electronic device 100 determined that generated set of characters “discuss,” “divide,” and “dinner” 860 were the set of characters to be displayed on touchscreen. In this embodiment, because each of these set of characters has “i” as its second letter, touchscreen 118 displayed generated set of characters using a further subsequent letter in the set of characters (for example, “discuss” under the “S” key, “divide” under the “V” key, and “dinner” under the “N” key). In other embodiments, generated set of characters “discuss,” “divide,” and “dinner” 860 can be displayed at or near the “I” key.

FIG. 8B shows an example where touchscreen 118 has received the set of characters “discuss” as input after the user chooses generated set of characters “discuss” 860. In this example, touchscreen 118 displays predicted set of characters “this” 880 at space key 350.

FIG. 9 shows an example where touchscreen 118 receives the “this” set of characters as input after user selects “this” as a desired predicted set of characters 880. In this example, touchscreen 118 displays predicted set of characters “now” 980 at space key 350.

Touchscreen 118 can also receive punctuation as input at any time during the typing of a message. If a user decides to use punctuation after inputting either a generated set of characters or a predicted set of characters, the <SPACE> character (for example, the <SPACE> character prior to cursor 940 of FIG. 9) is deleted and the inputted punctuation is inserted.

FIGS. 10A and 10B show example front views of a touchscreen, consistent with embodiments disclosed herein. FIG. 10A shows an example where touchscreen 118 displays “The co” in a text bar 1030 and several generated set of characters 1060 are displayed at subsequent candidate input characters. In this example, touchscreen 118 displays generated set of characters “cottage” 1060 under the “T” key, generated set of characters “cook” 1060 under the “O” key, generated set of characters “coat” 1060 under the “A” key, and generated set of characters “coffee” 1060 under the “F” key.

FIG. 10B shows an example where touchscreen 118 receives the set of characters “cook” as input after the user has selected the generated set of characters 1060 “cook.” The set of characters “cook” is inserted into input field 1030 along with a <SPACE> character. In this example, set of characters include new predicted set of characters (such as words 1090, affixes 1092 (for example, “-ed” under the “E” key and “-ing” under the “I” key), and plurals 1094 (for example, “-s” under the “S” key)), all of which are displayed at subsequent candidate input characters. Each predicted word 1090, affix 1092, or plural 1094 is located on respective subsequent candidate input characters that match the first letter of the predicted word 1090, affix 1092, or plural 1094. Now the user has the added option of inputting a predicted set of characters 1090, 1092, and 1094. Input is made in the same manner as described above. In some embodiments, when touchscreen 118 receives either affix 1092 or plural 1094 as an input, the <SPACE> character between cursor 1040 and “cook” is deleted and the corresponding inputted affix or plural is added to the end of “cook.”

FIG. 11A shows an example where touchscreen 118 displays “Did she co” in a text bar 1130 and several generated set of characters 1160 are displayed at subsequent candidate input characters. In this example, touchscreen 118 displays generated set of characters “correct” 1160 under the “R” key, generated set of characters “copy” 1160 under the “P” key, and generated set of characters “contact” 1160 under the “N” key. While “co” is provided in the text bars of both FIG. 10A and FIG. 11A, touchscreen displays different generated set of characters based on the context of the characters in their respective text bars 1030 and 1130. For example, in FIG. 10A, the characters “co” follows “The,” which implies that a noun beginning with “co” should follow. In FIG. 11A, the characters “co” follow a pronoun, which implies that a verb beginning with “co” should follow. As stated above, contextual data can be used to determine when certain set of characters are more appropriate based on, for example, the set of characters in a text bar or previous actions by a user.

FIG. 11B shows an example where touchscreen 118 receives the set of characters “correct” as input after the user has selected the generated set of characters “correct” 1160. In this example, the set of characters “correct” is inserted in input field 1130 and a <SPACE> character is also inserted. Predicted set of characters (such as words 1190 and affixes 1192) are now displayed at subsequent candidate input characters. In this example, while affixes “-ing” and “-ily” both correspond to the “I” key, touchscreen 118 displays “-ing” with the “I” key and “-ily” with the “L” key. As stated above, the predicted affix may be assigned to a certain key based on a ranking, on contextual data, or a combination of both. In this embodiment, the “-ing” affix may have had a higher ranking than the “-ily” affix and was thus assigned to the “I” key. Accordingly, the “-ily” affix was assigned to the “L” key based on the corresponding “L” character being in the “-ily” affix.

FIG. 12A shows an example where touchscreen 118 displays “The ch” in a text bar 1230 and several generated set of characters 1260 are displayed at subsequent candidate input characters. In this example, generated set of characters 1260 include both “child” and “chimp.” In this embodiment, while the third letter in both “child” and “chimp” are the same, touchscreen displays “child” under the “I” key and displays “chimp” under the “C” key. The determination on which generated set of characters goes under which candidate input key can be based on a ranking (as specified above). As illustrated in this embodiment, touchscreen 118 can display a generated set of characters (in this case, “chimp”) on a key even though that key may not be associated with any subsequent characters of the characters in text bar 1230.

FIG. 12B shows an example where touchscreen 118 receives the set of characters “child” as input after the user has selected the generated set of characters “child” 1260. The set of characters “child” is inserted in input field 1230 and, in this example, a <SPACE> character is not inserted. Predicted set of characters (such as words 1290 and affixes 1292) are now displayed at subsequent candidate input characters. In this example, while affixes “-ish” and “-ily” both correspond to the “I” key, touchscreen 118 displays “-ish” with the “I” key and “-ily” with the “L” key. As stated above, the predicted affix may be assigned to a certain key based on a ranking, on conventional data, or a combination of both. In this embodiment, the “-ish” affix may have had a higher ranking than the “-ily” affix and was thus assigned to the “I” key. Accordingly, the “-ily” affix was assigned to the “L” key based on the corresponding “L” character being in the “-ily” affix.

FIG. 13A shows an example where touchscreen 118 displays “The texture and” in a text bar 1330 and several predicted set of characters (for example, words 1390) are displayed at subsequent candidate input characters. FIG. 13B shows an example where touchscreen 118 received the set of characters “taste” as input after the user had selected the predicted set of characters “taste.” In this example, a <SPACE> character was inserted after “taste.” Consequently, predicted set of characters (such as, words 1390 and affixes 1392) are displayed at subsequent candidate input characters.

FIG. 14A shows an example where touchscreen 118 displays “The hospital staff c” in a text bar 1430 and several generated set of characters 1460 are displayed at subsequent candidate input characters. FIG. 14B shows an example where touchscreen 118 received the set of characters “care” as input after the user had chosen the generated set of characters “care.” Generated set of characters “care” is now placed in input field 1430 along with a <SPACE> and predicted set of characters (such as, words 1490 and affixes 1492) are displayed at subsequent candidate input characters. FIG. 14C shows an example where touchscreen 118 received the affix “-ful” as input (thereby modifying the set of characters “care” to “careful”) after the user had chosen the predicted affix “-ful.” Thus, the set of characters “careful” is now inserted into input field 1430. Note, in some embodiments, inputting a word or affix can modify the input word or word fragment. For example, if “spicy” was input by a user, and “ness” is a predicted affix and is inputted, “spicy” would change to “spiciness,” dropping the “y” and adding “iness”. In other embodiments, “happy” could change to “happiness” or “conceive” could change to “conceivable”.

FIG. 15 shows an example of an ambiguous keyboard 1520, which can have multiple characters assigned to a key (for example, such as a telephone keypad where “A”, “B” and “C” are assigned to key 2; “D”, “E” and “F” are assigned to key 3, and so on). For example, the characters “Q” and “W” can be assigned one key, and the characters “E” and “R” assigned to another key. In this example, the user has input the characters “OI” by pressing the “op” key followed by the “L” key. Using a predictor, generated set of characters 1560 are displayed at subsequent candidate input characters. Since the first pressed key can input either an “O” or a “P” and the second pressed key inputs an “L”, generated set of characters 1560 will begin with “OL” or “PL”, such as shown by generated set of characters 1560 in FIG. 15.

FIG. 16 shows another example of an ambiguous keyboard 1620. In this example, generated sets of characters “plum” and “olive” 1660 are displayed near the “ui” key. The sets of characters could also have been displayed at or on the “ui” key. Here, both sets of characters correspond to a particular input corresponding to a key, namely the third letter of plum is a “u” and the third letter of olive is an “i.” Touchscreen 118 (via main processor 102) can differentiate between the input of either set of characters based on the user's action. For example, the user can swipe at or near the right of the “ui” key to input “olive”, or swipe at or near the left of the “ui” key to input “plum”.

The examples and embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 17, 18, and 19 can be implemented with any set of characters such as words, phrases, acronyms, names, slang, colloquialisms, abbreviations, or any combination thereof.

FIG. 17 shows in flowchart form a method 1700 in accordance with some embodiments. Method 1700 can be implemented with a processor, such as main processor 102, and stored on a tangible computer readable medium, such as hard drives, CDs, DVDs, flash memory, and the like. At block 1710, the processor receives an input of a character. At block 1720, the processor displays a generated set of characters at or near keys of subsequent candidate input characters on the touchscreen, such as described above.

At block 1730, the processor receives an input of the generated set of characters chosen by a user. If the user does not choose a generated set of characters displayed at or near keys of subsequent candidate input characters, the method restarts at block 1710, where the touchscreen can receive an input of another character. If a generated set of characters is received as input, at block 1740 the generated set of characters and a <SPACE> character is inserted in an input field (for example, input field 330 of FIGS. 3-9). As mentioned previously, the user can choose the generated set of characters, for example, by swiping at or near it or by long pressing a key corresponding to the subsequent candidate input character.

Continuing at block 1750, if the processor detects that punctuation is not to be inserted, the method restarts at block 1710. If punctuation is to be inserted, the method continues to block 1760 where the <SPACE> character is deleted and the appropriate punctuation is added to the input field. After block 1760, the method starts over at block 1710.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating example method 1800 in accordance with some embodiments. Method 1800 can be implemented with a processor, such as main processor 102, and stored on a tangible computer readable medium, such as hard drives, CDs, DVDs, flash memory, and the like. At block 1810, the processor receives an input of a character.

At block 1820, the processor displays a generated set of characters at or near a location on the keyboard corresponding to a subsequent candidate input character on a touchscreen. At block 1830, the processor receives an input of a generated set of characters chosen by a user. If the user does not choose a generated set of characters displayed at or near keys of subsequent candidate input characters, the method restarts at block 1810, where the processor can receive an input of another character. If a generated set of characters is received as input, at block 1840 the generated set of characters and a <SPACE> character is inserted in an input field (for example, input field 330 of FIGS. 3-9). As mentioned previously, the user can choose the generated set of characters, for example, by swiping at or near it or by pressing a key corresponding to the subsequent candidate input character for a predetermined period of time.

At block 1850, a predicted set of characters, different from the generated set(s) of characters, is displayed on a space key of the keyboard after the input of the generated set of characters in block 1830. The predicted set of characters displayed in block 1850 is determined by using a predictor. In some embodiments, the one or more predicted sets of characters can be placed on one or more keys other than the space key.

At block 1860, the processor can determine whether it has received an input of the predicted set of characters based on a user input. If the touchscreen has not received an input of the predicted set of characters because the user has not chosen the predicted set of characters, the method restarts at block 1810. If the processor has received the input of the predicted set of characters, the method continues to block 1870, where the chosen predicted set of characters and a <SPACE> character is inserted in the input field. From here, method 1800 can return to either block 1810 or block 1850.

Even though method 1800 does not display the punctuation illustration as shown in method 1700, the punctuation illustration, as shown in blocks 1750 and 1760, can likewise be applied to method 1800.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating an example method 1900 in accordance with some embodiments. At box 1910, predicted set of characters is displayed at corresponding subsequent candidate input characters. In these embodiments, an input has not been received or a delimiter has been activated, such as inputting a <SPACE>. Here, one or more predicted set of characters (such as, words, affixes, or a combination thereof) are placed on subsequent candidate input characters that correspond to the first letter of the generated set of characters. Moving to box 1920, it is determined whether the touchscreen receives an input of the set of characters (such as, word or affix) based on a user's selection. If an input is received, the method moves to block 1930 where the predicted set of characters and a <SPACE> character are inserted into an input field. Then the method starts over at block 1910. If the touchscreen does not receive an input of the set of characters, the touchscreen is available to receive an input of a character (as described by block 1710 of FIG. 17 or block 1810 of FIG. 18) and proceed through methods (such as methods 1700 of FIG. 17 or 1800 of FIG. 18 or even method 1900 of FIG. 19).

FIG. 20 shows another example of a virtual keyboard 2020 having an input field 2030. The set of characters “Please con” are received as input by the touchscreen and displayed in the input field 2030 followed by a cursor 2040, which can be a vertical line (as shown) or any other shape, such as an underscore as mentioned previously. A predictor determines one or more generated set of characters 2060 based in part on the received input for the current position of cursor 2040 within the current word, which is in the fourth character position of the current word, as shown in input field 2030. The current word is the word in which the cursor is currently located. In the shown example, generated set of characters 2060 “cones”, “contact”, “construction” and “connect” are displayed. Each generated set of characters 2060 is displayed at a key corresponding to a subsequent candidate input character (for example, under the E, T, S and N keys of the virtual keyboard 2020, respectively), for the current position of cursor 2040, which is in the third character position, as shown in input field 2030.

In the shown example, each generated set of characters 2060 is displayed at or near keys on the virtual keyboard 2020 associated with the subsequent candidate input characters. The display of a generated set of characters 2060 at or near a key corresponding to a subsequent candidate input character depends, for instance, on the size of the generated set of characters 2060 and the size of generated set of characters associated with nearby keys of other subsequent candidate input characters. When the generated set of characters associated with nearby keys in the same row of keys in the virtual keyboard 2020 are too large to be displayed at the same time without overlapping with each other or without a predetermined distance between the generated sets of characters, the processor 102 limits the generated set of characters which are displayed. The processor 102 may limit the generated set of characters which are displayed using one or any combination of the rank of each generated set of characters, the size of each generated set of characters, and a distance between each generated set of characters which are displayed so that a predetermined distance between the generated set of characters is maintained. This may result in the display of one or more generated sets of characters which are larger than the associated key in the virtual keyboard 2020.

In some examples, if two generated sets of characters are both ranked high, and these sets of characters would otherwise be displayed at nearby keys but cannot be displayed and still maintain a predetermined distance between the generated sets of characters at the display text size, the electronic device could be configured to display only the highest ranked generated set of characters. This results in the display of the most likely generated set of characters. In other examples, only the longest of the generated set of characters is displayed. This may be beneficial in that allowing faster entry of longer words saves time and processing cycles, thereby leveraging the predictive text input solution. In yet other examples, only the shortest generated set of characters is displayed. This may be beneficial in that shorter words can be more common, at least for some users, thereby allowing faster entry of words which saves time and processing cycles, thereby leveraging the predictive text input solution.

In some examples, the processor 102 may only limit the generated set of characters which are displayed in neighboring/adjacent keys in the same row of keys in the virtual keyboard 2020. In some examples, the processor 102 may limit the generated set of characters which are displayed in neighboring/adjacent keys in the same row of keys in the virtual keyboard 2020 so that a generated set of characters is never displayed in neighboring/adjacent keys irrespective of the size of the generated set of characters or distance between each generated set of characters. In such examples, the processor 102 uses the rank to determine which generated set of characters are displayed.

In other examples, the processor 102 can limit the generated set of characters which are displayed when the generated set of characters associated with nearby keys in different rows of keys in the virtual keyboard 2020 are too large to be displayed at the same time without overlapping with each other or without a predetermined distance between the generated sets of characters. In other examples, the processor 102 can limit the generated set of characters which are displayed when the generated set of characters associated with nearby keys in the same or different columns of keys in the virtual keyboard 2020 are too large to be displayed at the same time without overlapping with each other or without a predetermined distance between the generated sets of characters

As mentioned previously, a user can use a finger or stylus to swipe a generated set of characters to input that generated set of characters. An individual letter, in contrast, can be input by tapping a respective key in the virtual keyboard 2020 using a finger or stylus. The touchscreen differentiates between tap and swipe events using movement and duration of touch events, the details of which are known in the art and need not be described herein. Each key in the virtual keyboard 2020 and each generated set of characters 2060 which is displayed has an associated target area on the touchscreen. The target area associated with each generated set of characters can be larger than and/or overlap with the target area of the key corresponding to the subsequent candidate input character with which it is associated and possibly nearby keys, such as neighboring keys in the same row. A user need only swipe on or nearby a displayed generated set of characters to input the generated set of characters. This permits faster input of a generated set of characters by creating larger and more accessible target areas, thereby saving time and processing cycles. In some examples, a generated set of characters can be input by detecting a swipe in any direction at or near the displayed generated set of characters. In other examples, a generated set of characters can only be input by detecting a swipe in a particular direction at or near the displayed generated set of characters. The particular direction may be associated with a direction in which the particular direction displayed generated set of characters (e.g., left or right in the shown example). In some examples, the swipe is at or near the displayed generated set of characters when the swipe has an initial contact point within the target area associated with the displayed generated set of characters (which may be the same or larger than the displayed generated set of characters).

Word Predictions at Input Field

FIG. 21 shows another example of a user interface screen having a virtual keyboard 2120 and an input field 2130. A text entry toolbar 2150 is displayed at the top of the user interface screen, above the input field 2130. In FIG. 21, no text has been entered into the input field 2130, and a cursor 2140, which can be a vertical line (as shown) or any other shape, such as an underscore as mentioned previously.

When text is inputted, the text field 2130 displayed on the user interface screen shows at least a subset of the inputted text. In some applications, the inputted text is displayed showing the formatting of the text as well as its layout as it appears in the document or message.

In user interface screens where a prediction bar is provided above the virtual keyboard, a user must shift his/her focus from the keyboard or the input field to the prediction bar to consider the predicted text.

FIG. 22 shows another example of a user interface screen wherein sets of predicted input characters are displayed at the input field. The set of characters “Hel” are received as input by the touchscreen and displayed in the input field.

A predictor determines one or more generated set of characters 2260 a, 2260 b, 2260 c based in part on the received input for the current position of cursor 2140 within the current word, which is in the third character position of the current word, as shown in input field 2130. The current word is the word in which the cursor is currently located. Various methods of generating and inputting sets of predicted characters including but not limited to punctuation, error correction, and contextual prediction as described herein or otherwise can be used in the example embodiments of the present disclosure.

In the shown example, generated sets of characters 2260 a, 2260 b, 2260 c, “Hello”, “Help” and “Helen” are displayed at the input field 2130 proximate to the displayed inputted characters and the cursor 2140.

In some examples, by displaying the generated sets of characters 2260 a, 2260 b, 2260 c at the input field 2130, a user may maintain his/her focus on the input field 2130 and on the formatting, layout and context of the previously entered text in the input field 2130.

The displayed sets of characters 2260 a, 2260 b, 2260 c are displayed in a defined arrangement. In the example in FIG. 22, the displayed sets of characters are in a horizontal arrangement wherein the displayed sets of characters are aligned horizontally or substantially horizontally to facilitate the selection of the predictions as input.

In the shown example, the displayed sets of characters are displayed in a text bubble 2265 immediately below the inputted characters “Hel”. In the shown example, the text bubble 2265 extends from a carat 2270 beneath the cursor 2140. The displayed sets of characters can also be displayed in other arrangements or formats.

While the displayed sets of characters are displayed in FIG. 22 below the inputted characters, in other example embodiments, the displayed sets of characters 2260 a, 2260 b, 2260 c can also be displayed above, inline with, or otherwise proximate to the inputted characters.

In some example embodiments, the virtual keyboard is divided into one or more partitions (or regions). In the example embodiment in FIG. 22, the virtual keyboard is partitioned into three columns. The partitions 2280 a, 2280 b, 2280 c are indicated by the regions enclosed by the dotted lines.

As described herein, in some examples, the position of each partition 2280 a, 2280 b, 2280 c corresponds to a position of a displayed set in the defined arrangement. For example, in FIG. 22, the position of the left displayed set 2260 a corresponds to the position of the left partition 2280 a, the position of the centre displayed set 2260 b corresponds to the position of the centre partition 2280 b, and the position of the right displayed set 2260 c corresponds to the position of the right partition 2280 c.

In some example embodiments, the virtual keyboard 2120 may be divided into equal or unequal partitions. In some examples, the partitions may occupy substantially all of the virtual keyboard 2120 or less than all of the virtual keyboard 2120. In some examples, the partitions may extend into or cover other parts of the user interface screen such as portions of the input field 2130. In some example embodiments, the partition may be divided by non-linear borders such as to avoid dividing virtual keyboard keys into different partitions.

FIG. 23 shows in flowchart form a method 2300 in accordance with some embodiments. The method 2300 can be implemented with a processor, such as main processor 102, and stored on a tangible computer readable medium, such as hard drives, CDs, DVDs, flash memory, and the like. At block 2310, the processor receives an input of a character. At block 2320, the processor generates one or more sets of predicted input characters in accordance with any of the examples described herein or otherwise.

At block 2330, at least one of the generated sets of predicted input characters is displayed at the input field. In some examples, the input character received at block 2310 is displayed in the input field, and the displayed sets are displayed above, below, inline, or otherwise proximate to the input character or cursor.

The displayed sets are generally the highest ranked generated sets of predicted input characters; however, other mechanisms for determining which generated sets to display can also be used.

The displayed sets are displayed in a defined arrangement. In the example shown in FIG. 22, the displayed sets are displayed in a horizontal arrangement. In some examples, the displayed sets are arranged in positions relative to each other. For example, in FIG. 22, the “Hello” set of predicted input characters 2260 a is in a left or first position in the horizontal arrangement, the “Help” set 2260 b is in a centre or second position in the horizontal arrangement, and the “Helen” set 2260 c is in a right or third position in the horizontal arrangement.

At block 2340, if a gesture is not received at a partition of the virtual keyboard such as when another character is inputted, the method returns to block 2310. In some examples, if the received gesture does not match a defined gesture or is not received at a partition of the virtual keyboard, the method 2300 returns to block 2310.

At block 2340, if a gesture is received at a partition of the virtual keyboard, the method 2300 continues to block 2350. In some examples, the gesture is a swipe gesture. In other examples, it is possible that another gesture could be used such as a double-tap.

If the gesture received at block 2340 is at a partition of the virtual keyboard, at block 2350, the displayed set of predicted input characters corresponding to the partition in which the gesture was received is inputted. For example, if a gesture is received at the left partition 2280 a illustrated in FIG. 22, the displayed set of predicted input characters “Hello” 2260 a in the left position in the horizontal arrangement is inputted. Similarly, if a gesture is received at the middle partition 2280 b, the displayed set “Help” 2260 b in the middle position in the horizontal arrangement is inputted; and if a gesture is received at the right partition 2280 c, the displayed set “Helen” 2260 c is inputted.

In some examples where the gesture is a swipe gesture or a similar type of gesture, the location of the gesture may be determined from the starting position of the swipe, the ending position of the swipe, a mid-path position of the swipe or center position of the swipe, or by other means.

In some examples, in addition to inputting the set of predicted input characters, the device may insert a <space> character or other punctuation or characters as applicable in accordance with the example embodiments described herein.

In some examples, displaying sets of predicted input characters at the input field may permit a user to maintain his/her focus on the input field 2130 while considering the displayed sets of predicted input characters.

In some examples, the partitions 2280 a, 2280 b, 2280 c of the virtual keyboard 2120 are sized and positioned such that a user may input a gesture at a desired partition without necessarily looking at the virtual keyboard 2120. In some examples, as the partitions for receiving gestures include regions of the virtual keyboard 2120, a user inputting individual characters via the virtual keyboard 2120 may input gestures at the partitions without necessarily moving or otherwise repositioning his/her hands relative to the device.

In some examples, a user such as a rapid typist who prefers to keep his/her eyes on the text field may both consider and select sets of predicted input characters without shifting focus from the inputted characters in the text field, and without repositioning his/her hands from their typing positions. In this manner, in some examples, a user may input individual characters as well as displayed sets of predicted characters with little or no need to shift focus or hand positions. In some examples, this can increase the speed at which text can be inputted and in some examples, can reduce the strain and inefficiencies associated with constantly shifting one's eyes and hand positions.

In some example embodiments, a displayed set of predicted input characters can also be inputted by tapping, swiping, or otherwise activating the displayed set of predicted input characters in the input field. For example, in FIG. 22, the displayed set “Hello” 2260 a may be inputted by tapping on or close to the word “Hello” in the horizontal arrangement in the input field 2130.

FIG. 24 shows another example of a user interface screen wherein sets of predicted input characters are displayed at the input field. The set of characters “Th” are received as input by the touchscreen and displayed in the input field 2130.

In the shown example, generated sets of characters 2460 a, 2460 b, 2460 c, “Thanks”, “This” and “The” are displayed at the input field 2130 proximate to the displayed inputted characters and the cursor 2140. In this example, the displayed sets of characters 2460 a, 2460 b, 2460 c are displayed in a defined vertical arrangement wherein the displayed sets of characters are aligned vertically or substantially vertically.

In the example embodiment in FIG. 24, the virtual keyboard is partitioned into three rows. The partitions 2480 a, 2480 b, 2480 c are indicated by the regions enclosed by the dotted lines. The position of the partitions corresponds to the position of the displayed sets. In the shown example, the upper partition 2480 a corresponds to the upper displayed set 2460 a, the middle partition 2480 b corresponds to the middle displayed set 2460 b, and the lower partition 2480 c corresponds to the lower displayed set 2460 c.

In some examples, the gesture for inputting a displayed set corresponds to the shape of the corresponding partition. For example, in FIG. 22, which has column partitions, the gesture may be a vertical swipe such as an up swipe or a down swipe; and in the example in FIG. 24, which has row partitions, the gesture may be a horizontal swipe such as a right or left swipe.

Referring to FIG. 22, in some example embodiments, a displayed set 2260 a, 2260 b, 2260 c is inputted when a gesture corresponding to the position of the displayed set is received. In these examples, each displayed set corresponds to a different gesture. For example, the displayed set “Hello” 2260 a in the left position of the horizontal arrangement can be inputted when a left swipe is received, the displayed set “Help” 2260 b in the centre position of the horizontal arrangement can be inputted when an up swipe is received, and the displayed set “Helen” 2260 c in the right position of the horizontal arrangement can be inputted when a right swipe is received. Other combinations of gestures and displayed set positions can also be used.

In some examples, the different gestures can be received at any location at or near the virtual keyboard 2120. In these examples, the partition for receiving any of the gestures can encompass all or any subset of the area of the virtual keyboard 2120.

In other examples, the different gestures may be recognized only when they are received at a partition corresponding to the displayed set to be inputted. For example, when a left swipe is received at the left partition 2280 a, the displayed set “Helen” 2260 a is inputted; when an up swipe is received at the centre partition 2280 b, the displayed set “Help” 2260 b is inputted; and when a right swipe is received at the right partition 2280 c, the displayed set “Helen” 2260 c is inputted.

FIG. 25 shows another example of a user interface screen wherein two sets of predicted input characters are displayed at the input field. The set of characters “ex” are received as input by the touchscreen and displayed in the input field 2130.

In the shown example, only two generated sets of characters 2560 a, 2560 b, “excellent”, and “exciting” are displayed at the input field 2130 proximate to the displayed inputted characters and the cursor 2140.

In some examples, when only two generated sets of characters are displayed, the virtual keyboard 2120 is partitioned into two partitions 2580 a, 2580 b corresponding to the respective positions of the displayed sets.

In some examples, the number of generated sets to display may be an option which may be configured by the user or an administrator. In some examples, the number of generated sets to display can be set to a default value. In some examples, the device can be configured to display one, two, three, or any other number of generated sets.

In some situations, based on the inputted characters, the number of generated sets of predicted input characters may be less than the configured number of sets to display. In these situations, the number of displayed sets may be less than the configured number of sets to display. For example, referring to the example interface screen in FIG. 25, if the device is configured to display three generated sets, but only two sets of predicted input characters are generated based on the inputted characters, only two sets of predicted input characters 2560 a, 2560 b are displayed.

In some examples, when fewer sets are displayed, the number of partitions is dynamically reduced to match the number of displayed sets. For example, if the device is configured to display three generated sets, the virtual keyboard 2120 is generally partitioned into three partitions as illustrated for example in FIG. 22. However, when only two sets of predicted input characters are generated and displayed, the partitioning of the virtual keyboard 2120 can be dynamically adjusted to only have two partitions as illustrated for example in FIG. 25. In FIG. 25, the partitions 2580 a, 2580 b are larger and include the region of the virtual keyboard previously partitioned into the centre partition 2280 b (FIG. 22).

In some examples, fewer sets are displayed when the number of sets of predicted characters generated is less than the default number of sets to display. In some examples, fewer sets are displayed when additional generated sets are too long to be displayed proximate to the inputted characters.

In other examples, when fewer sets are displayed, the number of partitions remains the same. For example, in FIG. 26, only two sets of predicted input characters 2560 a, 2560 b are generated and displayed; however, the virtual keyboard 2120 is still partitioned into three partitions 2280 a, 2280 b, 2280 c. In some examples, the extra partitions do not correspond to any of the displayed sets. For example, in FIG. 26, when a gesture is received at the left partition 2280 a, the left displayed set “excellent” 2560 a is inputted; when a gesture is received at the right partition 2280 c, the right displayed set “exciting” 2560 b is inputted; and when a gesture is received at the centre partition 2280 b, no displayed set is inputted as no displayed set corresponds to the centre partition.

In some examples, if additional generated sets are available, when a gesture is received at a partition which does not correspond to a displayed set, the next highest ranked generated sets are displayed at the input field. For example, in FIG. 26, if a gesture is received at the centre partition 2280 b which does not correspond to any displayed set, the two displayed sets “excellent” and “exciting” in the defined arrangement may be replaced with the next two highest-ranked generated sets “example” and “exam”. In some of these examples, the default number of displayed sets is always less than the number of partitions such that one partition is reserved for scrolling through additional generated sets of predicted characters. A swipe right across the three regions in any direction or a particular direction (e.g., up, down, left, right) could, in some examples, cause another set of predictions to be displayed.

In other examples, when each partition has a corresponding displayed set in the defined arrangement as illustrated for example in FIG. 22, receiving a different gesture at the virtual keyboard will cause the device to display any additional generated sets. For example, in FIG. 22, an up swipe at the left 2280 a, centre 2280 b or right 2280 c partitions will input the corresponding displayed set in the left 2260 a, centre 2260 b, or right 2260 c positions of the defined arrangement; and a down swipe in any partition will cause the device to display any additional generated sets in the defined arrangement.

In some example embodiments, the processor 102 determines the arrangement in which a generated set of characters is displayed using the rank of each generated set of characters. For example, the highest ranked generated set of characters may be always displayed first, last, or closest to the cursor.

In some example embodiments, the displayed set having the highest rank can be displayed at the position in the defined arrangement corresponding to the most accessible or most convenient partition. For example, for a right-handed user, the right partition 2280 c may be the easiest partition to swipe. Therefore, in some examples, the displayed set having the highest rank is displayed in the right position of a horizontal arrangement.

In some example embodiments, the highest ranked displayed set of characters may be highlighted. For example, in FIG. 27, the highest ranked set is the word “Hello” 2760 a which is highlighted in a different colour than the other displayed sets 2260 b, 2260 c. In some examples, highlighting may include bolding, italicizing, displaying in a different font, increasing a font size, or otherwise emphasizing the highest ranked displayed set relative to the other displayed sets.

In some example embodiments, additional gestures may be used to input the highest ranked displayed set. For example, with reference to the example interface screen in FIG. 27, if up swipes at the three partitions 2280 a, 2280 b, 2280 c are used to input the corresponding displayed sets 2760 a, 2260 b, 2260 c, in addition to an up swipe in the left partition 2280 a, a different gesture such as a right swipe anywhere on the virtual keyboard 2120 can be used to input the highest ranked displayed set. In some examples, tapping the <space> bar can cause the highest ranked displayed set to be inputted.

Referring to FIG. 28, in some examples, the defined arrangement includes displaying the highest ranked set inline with the inputted characters. In the example in FIG. 28, the defined arrangement includes the highest ranked set 2890 displayed inline with the inputted characters, and the three next highest ranked sets 2260 a, 2260 b, 2260 c displayed horizontally.

In these examples, a first gesture such as an up swipe at one of the partitions 2280 a, 2280 b, 2280 c of the virtual keyboard 2120 inputs the corresponding displayed set 2260 a, 2260 b, 2260 c; and a second gesture such as a right swipe anywhere on the virtual keyboard 2110 inputs the highest ranked displayed set 2890. In some examples, tapping the <space> bar inputs the highest ranked displayed set.

In the example shown in FIG. 28, the highest ranked displayed set 2890 is in the defined arrangement inline with the inputted characters, and the predicted characters needed to complete the set (i.e. “ample”) are highlighted. Non-limiting examples of highlighting include bolding, ghosting, inverting, italicizing or otherwise distinguishing the predicted characters from the inputted characters. In some examples, the predicted characters are distinguished by a small gap between the inputted characters and the predicted characters. In some examples, the predicted characters are distinguished simply by their relative location to the cursor or carat.

Referring to FIG. 22, in some examples, the different partitions are highlighted such that a user can be made aware of each partition. For example, in FIG. 22, the region in the left partition 2280 a may be displayed with a blue background, the region in the centre partition 2280 b may be displayed with a red background, and the region in the right partition 2280 c may be displayed with a yellow background. In some examples, the letters on the keys of the virtual keyboard 2120 can be displayed in different colours based on the partition in which they fall. In some examples, the divider bar 2299 can display different colours distinguishing the different partitions. Any other suitable highlighting which can indicate to a user the different partitions can be used.

In some examples, the displayed sets 2260 a, 2260 b, 2260 c can be displayed in the colours corresponding to the highlighting of their respective partition. For example, if the left partition 2280 a is highlighted in red, the left displayed set 2260 a can be displayed in red; if the centre partition 2280 b is highlighted in blue, the centre displayed set 2260 b can be displayed in blue; and if the right partition 2280 c is highlighted in green, the right displayed set 2260 c can be displayed in green.

In some examples, displaying the displayed sets in a similar manner to their respective partitions may inform the user which regions of the virtual keyboard 2120 may receive a gesture to input the desired displayed set.

While the present disclosure is described, at least in part, in terms of methods, a person of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the present disclosure is also directed to the various components for performing at least some of the aspects and features of the described methods, be it by way of hardware components, software or any combination of the two, or in any other manner. Moreover, the present disclosure is also directed to a pre-recorded storage device or other similar computer readable medium including program instructions stored thereon for performing the methods described herein.

The present disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the subject matter of the claims. The described example embodiments are to be considered in all respects as being only illustrative and not restrictive. The present disclosure intends to cover and embrace all suitable changes in technology. The scope of the present disclosure is, therefore, described by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced within their scope. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving an input of a character from a virtual keyboard displayed on a display; generating at least two sets of predicted input characters based on the input character; displaying at least two of the generated sets of predicted input characters at an input field, wherein each displayed set is displayed at a position in a defined arrangement; partitioning the virtual keyboard into partitions, each partition corresponding to one of the displayed sets and configured for receiving a selection of the displayed set; and receiving selection of one of the displayed sets of predicted input characters in accordance with a gesture detected at one of the partitions of the virtual keyboard, wherein the position of the partition within the area of the virtual keyboard corresponds to the position of the selected set within the defined arrangement.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the input character; wherein displaying the at least two of the generated sets comprises displaying the at least two of the generated sets proximate to the input character.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the at least two of the generated sets in the defined arrangement comprises displaying the at least two of the generated sets horizontally; and wherein the virtual keyboard is partitioned into at least two columns.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the at least two of the generated sets in the defined arrangement comprises displaying the at least two of the generated sets vertically; and wherein the virtual keyboard is partitioned into at least two rows.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual keyboard is partitioned into at least two partitions, the method further comprising highlighting the at least two partitions.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least two partitions are highlighted in different colors, and wherein displaying the at least two of the generated sets comprises displaying each of the displayed sets in the color of the corresponding partition.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the at least two of the generated sets comprises highlighting the displayed set having a highest ranking, and wherein selecting one of the displayed sets comprises selecting the displayed set having the highest ranking when a predefined gesture is received.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein highlighting the displayed set having the highest ranking comprises displaying the displayed set having the highest ranking in-line with the input character.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the position of each of the displayed sets in the defined arrangement is associated with a different gesture, and wherein selecting the one of the displayed sets comprises selecting the displayed set in the position corresponding to the received gesture.
 10. An electronic device, comprising: a processor; a display coupled to the processor; wherein the processor is configured to: receive an input of a character from a virtual keyboard displayed on the display; generate at least two sets of predicted input characters based on the input character; display at least two of the generated sets of predicted input characters at an input field, wherein each displayed set is displayed at a position in a defined arrangement; partition the virtual keyboard into partitions, each partition corresponding to one of the displayed sets and configured for receiving a selection of the displayed sets; and receive selection of one of the displayed sets of predicted input characters in accordance with a gesture detected at one of the partitions of the virtual keyboard, wherein the position of the partition within the area of the virtual keyboard corresponds to the position of the input set within the defined arrangement.
 11. The device of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to display the input character; wherein displaying the at least two of the generated sets comprises displaying the at least two of the generated sets proximate to the input character.
 12. The device of claim 10, wherein displaying the at least two of the generated sets in the defined arrangement comprises displaying the at least two of the generated sets horizontally; and wherein the virtual keyboard is partitioned into at least two columns.
 13. The device of claim 10, wherein displaying the at least two of the generated sets in the defined arrangement comprises displaying the at least two of the generated sets vertically; and wherein the virtual keyboard is partitioned into at least two rows.
 14. The device of claim 10, wherein the virtual keyboard is partitioned into at least two partitions, and the processor is further configured to highlight the at least two partitions.
 15. The device of claim 14, wherein the at least two partitions are highlighted in different colors, and wherein displaying the at least two of the generated sets comprises displaying each of the displayed sets in the color of the corresponding partition.
 16. The device of claim 10, wherein displaying the at least two of the generated sets comprises highlighting the displayed set having a highest ranking, and wherein inputting one of the displayed sets comprising inputting the displayed set having the highest ranking when a predefined gesture is received.
 17. The device of claim 16, wherein highlighting the displayed set having the highest ranking comprises displaying the displayed set having the highest ranking in-line with the input character.
 18. The device of claim 10, wherein the position of each of the displayed sets in the defined arrangement is associated with a different gesture, and wherein inputting the one of the displayed sets comprises inputting the displayed set in the position corresponding to the received gesture.
 19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions for: receiving an input of a character from a virtual keyboard displayed on a display; generating at least two sets of predicted input characters based on the input character; displaying at least two of the generated sets of predicted input characters at an input field, wherein each displayed set is displayed at a position in a defined arrangement; partitioning the virtual keyboard into partitions, each partition corresponding to one of the displayed sets and configured for receiving a selection of the displayed set; and receiving selection of one of the displayed sets of predicted input characters in accordance with a gesture detected at one of the partitions of the virtual keyboard, wherein the position of the partition within the area of the virtual keyboard corresponds to the position of the input set within the defined arrangement. 